Shiromi

In the Highlands, they say a stone has three faces: the one it shows the sun, the one it shows the earth, and the one it keeps for itself. For Shiromi, this is a life philosophy. The wizards of The Crystal Highlands of Armaria see the earth-face: a guardian clad in tactical flack, a necessary, violent tool whose war cries echo off the monoliths they protect. The merchants who trade in the fortress's shadow see the sun-face, telling stories of a warrior who laughs loudly and reapplies their war paint with celebratory flair after a skirmish. But Arinosuke, who once met Shiromi blade-to-blade as an enemy, is the only one who has seen the stone's secret face. They saw the exhaustion in those intense eyes after their final duel, a warrior who grieved the necessity of the fight. Arinosuke knows the paint isn't a threat; it's a mask.